Bentley Rayburn to challenge Rep. Doug Lamborn again in Colorado’s 5th District

U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn[1] is going to have competition at the 5th Congressional District GOP assembly from a familiar foe, Bentley Rayburn[2], a retired major-general in the Air Force.

Bentley Rayburn

Rayburn ran in 2006 when the seat held by retiring Congressman Joel Hefley[3] attracted a slew of Republican candidates. He came in third. Lamborn took first and won in November in the conservative district. The same thing happened when Rayburn and Lamborn ran again in 2008[4] for the El Paso County-based congressional seat.

“It’s a free country,” Lamborn told The Denver Post tonight when asked about Rayburn’s late decision to enter the race. “But I feel very good about things.”

Rayburn invited delegates and alternates to his home today and through the week to discuss why he plans to challenge Lamborn, a former state senator and an attorney.

“Please, please come to what will be one of the most important political meetings of this election season,” Rayburn wrote.

“Our country is serious, serious trouble,” he said.

“If we have seen any real movement in the right direction lately, with very few exceptions it is not because of aggressive, visionary leadership on the part of Republicans, but rather because the Democrats under Obama are making such a mess of things and some people are starting to figure it out.”

Rayburn said there is a huge concern in Colorado Springs about military bases closing. The Democrats, he pointed out, are running retired two-star general Irv Halter, “who is a great guy.”

Halter’s pollster, Jill Normington of Normington Petts & Associates, in January noted that only 21 percent of the voters in the 5th Congressional District want Lamborn re-elected. The candidate brought that up at an event last week.

“I spent 32 years in our Air Force and four years as a business executive, so I know how to build coalitions and get things done,” Halter said.

“As you know, our congressman has one of the most far out records in Washington. Instead of working to get our nation’s fiscal house in order, he would rather shut down the federal government. Instead of working to create jobs, he would rather push phony legislation that has no chance of passing. And instead of working to change how Washington operates, he blames the other party. In essence, he is everything that is wrong with Washington.”